THE LAND OF THE TEENS by Mary Wood Allen, M.D.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 26, 1894

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 20, No. 55.

THE LAND OF THE TEENS.

By Mary Wood Allen, M.D.

BY MARY WOOD ALLEN, M.D.

THE path of Life, beginning at the gateway of Birth, passes through the sunny meadow land of Childhood, and also through a strange, mysterious country, called the Land of the Teens, before reaching the Heights of Maturity. It is peculiarly a mysterious land, in that the inhabitants are neither children nor adults, and yet, with the inexperience of children, they have many of the desires and emotions of grown-up people; and this constitutes an element of great danger. Another source of danger is the fact that adequate guidance is not always given to children in this transition period, or, if proffered, is proudly rejected by those who think that being in their "teens" makes them "wise above that which is written."

When we visit foreign lands, we are grateful for guidance and direction, especially if we are not acquainted with the language; and if we do not hire a guide, we at least buy a guidebook. It seems to me, then, that we ought not to rebel against guides into and through the Land of the Teens, realizing that one who has traveled through a country can point out beauties and warn against dangers which would not be recognized by the inexperienced traveler who is without guidance.

We can visit England, Italy, or Germany many times, and at each journey can profit by former experiences, but we pass through the Land of the Teens but once, and the lessons we learn in that journey we can only utilize for the benefit of others. This is why many people on the Heights of Maturity are anxious to light a beacon for those who are still in their "teens." It is because they

would gladly help others to shun the bypaths where they met disaster, and also because they have learned the very solemn truth that in youth one is determining what maturity shall be. The seeds sown in the sunny meadows of Childhood and the broader fields of the Land of the Teens are harvested in maturity, and the harvest is always greater than the seed sown. The petulance and pouting of the child hardens into the gruffness, bad temper, and moroseness of the man. The idleness and shirking of the youth become the shiftlessness and unreliability of the adult. The boy's neglect of duty and unwearied search for pleasure is harvested in dissipation and ruin in mature life. It is, then, a very serious thing to be passing through one's "teens;" and the wise youth will welcome any guide who will show him a safe path.

Let us pause a moment on the border of the land and survey its topography. We see that it is a rolling country, rising gradually into the rougher Heights of Maturity. It is a land of singing birds and fragrant flowers, and even its deadliest things wear an outward aspect of beauty. Its rough paths are often the safest, while some that look bright and sunny are full of danger. There are pleasant, open meadows presided over by Hygeia, the goddess of health, and there are plains that to the eye are just as fair, but which are full of pitfalls to catch the unwary, and Disease and Ruin are lurking there. It is quite evident that a guide may be of advantage. May I claim the privilege of acting for a little time in that capacity?

The King of this land has made laws for its government, and Wisdom has builded paths wherein one may walk in safety. The laws made by the King are not harsh and cruel, but are beneficent; and he denies no real good. He says to the traveler: "You belong to me, and I am desirous of your highest good; therefore obey me and you shall be rewarded. Disobey me and you shall be punished."

So deeply is he interested in the welfare of his subjects that his laws concern themselves with the food they eat and the clothes they wear, with their exercise, sleep, rest, and amusements; and those who regard these laws walk with a firm step, and laugh in heartiest pleasure; but those who disobey are left in maturity with pain and weariness to repent their disobedience, or they sink into untimely graves; and so we find tombs even in the bright Land of the Teens.

I firmly believe that the King does not wish that the young and the strong shall leave his active service to lie down in the grave. I believe that the ten years we must pass in this land he intends shall be but preparatory to that glorious, active life of grand achievement which is only possible in maturity.

It needs some moral courage to stay bravely in the path of Wisdom when there are so many allurements to leave it, more particularly as the inexperience of the traveler does not warn him of the danger of following Pleasures that lead from the path of Wisdom. It is hard to resist when the spirits of Desire and Self-indulgence throng about the youth, offering him tempting food, of which he has no need, or urging him to enjoy the pleasures of sense by partaking of forbidden fruits. The spirits of Greed and Destruction are busy turning the golden grains and luscious fruits into poisonous drinks, which are displayed with all the glitter of crystal and silver, while the glamour of seductive music and the wiles of Evil Desire add to the allurement. The same spirits roll up the leaves of poisonous plants, and tempt men to inhale the vapors that lull the brain into oblivion, and the young traveler in the Land of the Teens, seeing not the dangers that threaten his strength, his growth, his brain and nerves, ignorantly partakes of the things so attractively presented. Then, alas! the vital forces that are so busy in keeping him alive and in repairing loss, are hindered in their work, or, it may be, are overpowered altogether.

Intemperance in eating and drinking bring around him a ghastly crew, characterized by Milton as—

"Maladies Of ghastly spasm, or racking torture; qualms Of heart-sick agony; all feverous kinds, Convulsions, epilepsies, fierce catarrhs, Intestine stone and ulcer, colic pangs, Demoniac frenzy, moping melancholy, And moon-struck madness, pining atrophy, Marasmus, and wide-wasting pestilence, Dropsies, and asthmas, and joint-racking rheums."

And modern science corroborates his catalogue. The guide worthy of trust must not fail to point out these dangers, and the prudent youth will listen to the warning voice, and walk in Wisdom's ways, for all "her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace."—The Advance.